Dagestan uprising

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Petrovsk

Shura

Khanzhalmakhi

Kunzakh

Veden

Botlikh

Grozny

Gunib

Salti

Gerghebil

Arakani

Gimry

Derbent

Kumukh

Gidatl

GEORGIA

Sulak River

Samur River

Terek River

Terek River

CHECHNYA

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Dagestan Uprising 1920
Blue dot=U-shaped main road
Yellow dot=Canyon

The Dagestan uprising of 1920–1921 was an event during the Russian Civil War.

By the spring of 1920, Bolshevik forces controlled most of the Caucasus except Georgia. The uprising, led by the Naqshbandi brotherhood that had earlier supported Imam Shamil, began in September 1920, and by the end of the year the rebels controlled most of mountains of Dagestan. The Reds brought in reinforcements and defeated the rebels by March 1921, but fighting went on until the end of May.

While Bolshevik Red Army troops greatly outnumbered the rebels, most of them were Russians who knew little of the local geography, and especially of mountain warfare. Little assistance could be given by native Bolsheviks, as they had largely been killed earlier in the war. Red Army officers made a number of costly mistakes which hindered progress in defeating the rebellion.

The military geography had changed a good bit since the time of Shamil. Baku was now an oil boom town. There was a railroad up the coast from Baku which connected to the main rail network of Russia. Petrovsk (formerly Tarki, now Makhachkala) was an important port with a working class that might support the Bolsheviks. From Petrovsk there was a road and railroad to the military center of Temir-Khan-Shura (Buynaksk). From there a good road led south to the important road junction of Khanzhalmikhe. From it poorer roads led east and south. Also from Khanzhalmikhe a road led northwest to the Avar capital of Khunzakh and through Botlikh over the Andi ridge into Chechnya, Shamil's old capital of Vedeno and Grozny. This U-shaped route avoided the Avar Koysu canyon. The road crossed the canyon at the Salti Bridge west of Khanzhalmikhe, south of which was the Russian fort of Gunib. Most of the fighting was along or inside this U-shape.

Military equipment had also changed. Machine guns were now available, and artillery was more effective and easier to move. Sources note that Red Army armored cars presented a difficulty to the rebels, who lacked effective anti-tank weaponry. The Russians would usually win when they stayed on the roads and relied on numbers and artillery. In the mountains, Red Army garrisons could be surrounded, but the mountain rebels lacked the artillery and discipline for a proper siege or assault of these positions.

The Chechens generally stayed out of the fight. They were now oriented towards Vladikavkaz, and faced a denser Russian population. They were more concerned with potential conflict with the Cossacks, who had usually sided with the Whites against the Red Army.